Battle of Chinle
The Battle of Chinle was a major battle in the Ute-Navajo War of Liberation and marked the second city in the former Ute-Navajo Union to be liberated after Window Rock. Background The town of Chinle, west of the Chuska Mountains was one of the first towns in the UNU taken by Caesar's Legion in 2269, when it was captured by thousands of Legionaries, quickly overrunning the defenders, however, many of the residents managed to retreat up the Canyon de Chelly into the Chuska Mountains. The defenders were also able to warn Gallup and Window Rock by radio of the incoming Legion forces, allowing the towns to prepare their defenses and inflict heavy casualties on the Legion before they were finally overrun. After its capture by the Legion, the town was used as an outpost for Legion patrols on the roads in the occupied Ute-Navajo nation. The town typically had between 500 and 1000 Legionaries in it at any one time until 2282, when, like much of the Legion in eastern Arizona and western New Mexico, the bulk of their forces were called west to fight the NCR Arizona Offensive. Battle On April 22nd, following the UNU's Liberation of Window Rock and victories at the Battle of Little Water and Battle of Yah-Ta-Hey, Charles Asaayi, president of the UNU planned an attack to take back the towns on the eastern slopes of the Chuska mountains, after confirming that Chinle and the town of Ganado to the south had only about 200 Legionaries between them. Asaayi intended to once again use his control of the mountains to launch a multi-pronged surprise attack, attacking Ganado from the road going west from Window Rock using several surviving pre-war vehicles, which the UNU had managed to transport with them into the Chuskas in their retreat from the valleys a decade earlier. Assaayi hoped the Legion would respond to the attack on Ganado would drive the remaining Legion troops out onto the open road through the desert, making them vulnerable to attack. At the same time, groups of UNU fighters would attack from the slopes of the Chuska mountains east of Chinle, attacking down Canyon de Chelly and from the slopes to the north and south of the town. Attack on Ganado At 0900 on April 22nd, 2282, a column of 12 technicals and an M51 Infantry Fighting Vehicle advanced west from Window Rock and stopped to release small groups of infantry, including sniper teams near the town of Ganado, which took up positions on the slopes west of the town and fired at key targets, including Legion infantry manning a heavy machine gun turret and a rocket launcher guarding the road leading in from Window Rock. After the weapons were silenced, the technicals and IFV advanced. The IFV firing on any remaining Legion positions with its 120mm gun and secondary machine gun, while the technicals attacked attacked with their mounted weapons, including machine guns, rocket launchers, and in one case, a Gatling laser. The token force of 30 or so Legionaries were quickly wiped out by the surprise attack by 0930 hours. Capture of Chinle While Asaayi had hoped that the attack would lure the Legionaries in Chinle to attack, by 1000 hours, it was clear that they were not taking the bait. Instead, the roughly 170 Legionaries in Chinle fortified their position as best they could. Seeing this, Asaayi ordered the guerillas hidden in the mountains to attack, starting with mortar, rocket, and sniper attacks on the Legion positions in the town of Chinle. The roadblocks and several fortified structures were hit by the mortars and rockets, and Legion officers, snipers, and weapons crews were struck by sniper fire. The Legion were unable to get off accurate fire on the UNU guerillas, who were hidden within in woodlands covering the slopes and canyons west of the city. As the Legion exchanged fire with the guerillas in the mountains, the UNU vehicles attacked from the south. With their forces divided between multiple attacks, the UNU were able to push through their lines and take the town by 1100 hours. After the defensive line started to break, the Legionaries, with their commanders dead, quickly surrendered the town of Chinle, having realized since the fall of Window Rock that the Legion's power in the region was weakening. Category:Battles Category:Events